Half fruit peeler with cooperating retainer means



Jan. 11, 1949. R. l.. EWALD ETA!- 2,458,506

HALF FRUIT PEELER WITH COOFRATING RETAINER MEANSy Filed July 31, A1943 Y l 7 Sheets-Sheet l' Jan. l1, 1949. R. L. EwALD ETAL 2,458,506

` HALF FRUIT PEELER WITH GOOPERATING RETAINER MEANS l Filed July 194s '7 sheets-sheet 2 Q .G Y

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Jan. 1l, 1949. R. EwAL.D ETAL 2,458,506

HALF FRUIT PEELER WITH COOPERATING RETAINER MEAIS Filed July 51, 1945 7 Sht-LeLS-SheelI 5 Jan. 11, 1949. R. l.. EWALD ETAL 2,458,506

HALF FRUIT PEELER WITH COOPERATING RETAINER MEANS Filed July 5l, 1.943v 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 JQZ 154 13530 115 Jg INI/ENZQRS Jan.` ll, 1949.

R. EwALD Erm,

HALF FRUIT PEELER WITVH COOPERATING RETAINER MEANS Filed July 31, 194s 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 11, 1949.

` HALFv FRUIT PEELER wITH cooPERATING RETAINER MEANS '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 51l 1943 Jali- 11, 1949. 4sa. I l-:wALD Erm. 2,458,506

HALF FRUIT PEELER WITH COQPERATING RETAINERMEANS Filed July 31, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTORS.

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Patented Jan. 1l, 19h49l HALF FRUIT PEELER `WITH cooPERA'rmG RETAINER MEANS Raymond L. Ewald' and Henry A. Skog, Olympia,

Wash., assignor's` to Special Equipment Company, Portland, Oreg., a corporation of Oregon Original'application October 31, 1940, Serial No. 363,596; Divided and this application July 31, 1943, Serial N0. 496,884

l p Claims.

This invention relates toapparatus for processing fruit, and more particularly an apparatus for peeling peaches and other fruit, and. particularly clingstone peaches.

The present `application isy ay division of our pending application Serial,- No. 363,596, filed October 31, 1940, entitled Fruit treating machine patented April 23, 194:6,` Patent No. 2,398,780. The claimsof the present divisional application relate to the peeling mechanism.

Among the objects of the present invention is to provide means for holding ya pitted half peach in a cup-shaped holder and. for peeling the half peach so held in a manner so that the peach will be held from turning in the cup during the peeling operation, and so that the cut face of the peach will be adequately supported. and so that the peeling knife, as it emerges from the peach, will not tend to tear or chip off the peripheral portion of the half peach at the cut face thereof.

Further objects of the invention are to provide; an improved peeling pad or means for contacting and holding the cut face of the half fruit during the peeling operation whereby the half fruit will be pressed inwardly into the cup-like holder during the operation of the peeling means so as to facilitate the peeling operation; to provide an improved peeling pad or fruit holder adapted to contact the cut face of the half fruit and which is constructed to eliminate the necessity of locking the peeling pad or holder in fruit contacting -position relative to the cut face of the half fruit during the peeling operation; to provide an improved peeling pad or holder adapted'not only yieldably to hold the half fruit in the cup during peeling, but which also includes a rigid portion adapted. to cooperate with the peeling knife in a manner such that the rigid portion supports the circumferential cut surface on the half fruit where the peeling knife emerges so as to prevent breaking of the peripheral portion of the fruit at the cut face during the outward movement of the knife therethrough; to provide mechanism operable during the peeling operation wherein one of the movable sections of the holding cup or half fruit holder is adapted to be shifted whereby the knife in its movement positively shifts the half fruit during a portion of the peeling operation so as to cause a more accurate peeling operation, and wherein there is included resilient holding means adapted resiliently and yieldingly, but notrigidly, to contact and to hold the cutk face of the half fruit while supported in the cup during the peel-f ing operation, in combination with a rigidly mounted, auxiliarly or cooperative holding member adapted to shift with the peeling knife to be brought into contact with the cut face of the half fruit at the periphery or circumference of the half fruit adjacent the zone from which the peeling knifeemerges at the completion of the peeling operation, whereby to prevent breaking of the edge of the fruit at the cut face during peeling, such construction likewise permitting the half fruit to shift in and relatively to the cup walls whereby to maintain the half fruit alternately against opposed walls `of the fruit cup during passage of the peeling knife arcuately through the flesh of the half fruit; to provide means independent of the movement ofthe peeling knife for moving the shiftable member of the cup to so called closed or eccentric position; to provide means for shifting the cup sections relatively to closed or eccentric position before the peeling pad contacts the cut face ofthe half fruit; to provide av relativelyI strong closing action of the shiftable cup section;. to provide a more positive action for'the closing movement of the cup section to engage the peach half between the walls of the cup; to provide these and other objects of invention, as will be apparent from a perusal of the following specification, when taken in con nection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: l A

Figure 1 is aside view in perspective of one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3 3 of Figureql. f

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 1.

Figure v5 is a section taken on rthe line 5 5 of Figure 3, 'f

Figure 6 is a vsection taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a section taken on the line 'I 'lv of Figure 3.

Figure vSis a. section taken on the line 8 8 on Figure 14. v L

Figure 9 is a section taken on the line 9 9 ofr Figure 14. A V

Figure lois a sectional-view taken on line l 0 l 0 of Figure 14 showing the peeling mechanism.

Figure 11 is a similar View showing the raised position of the peeling mechanism, and showing the surface of the fruit pad 846 as lying substantiallyon thev axis of turning of the peeling knife 192.

. Figure v12is a section taken'on the line I2-I2 of Figure 10. E

For purposes of illustration the invention is set forth in detail in connection with the type of machine illustrated in the drawings. l

The embodiment illustrated comprises an automatic machine, power-driven, consisting in general of an upright main frame and an extension frame. The main `turret carries fruit-holding means, specifically in the form of substantial cup-like members, each adapted to hold a half peach or half fruit. 'I'his main turret, as will be hereinafter set forth, is given an intermittent movement by well known Geneva mechanism so that the cup-like members successively are brought to a sequence of stations spaced about the main upright frame. While the various steps of processing the fruit which these stations represent form no part of the present invention, the invention being confined to the peeling station, it is thought best to refer to them briefly for full understanding of the mechanism involved. These stations comprise, first, a half fruit receiving station whereby and whereat severed sections of peaches, preferably half sections, simultaneously are disposed in pairs in adjacent cups in the manner hereinafter recited, and thereafter the turret carrying the cups is given a step movement to convey each cup in succession with its contained half fruit, specifically half peaches, to a pitting station, whereby the pit is severed therefrom. Subsequently the cup carrying the pitted half fruit is conveyed to a peeling station wherein the peeling is severed from the peach, leaving the skin of the peach underlying the half peach, and loose in the cup; next, ea-ch successive cup with the pitted and peeled half peach therein is moved to a station at which the processed half peach is discharged from the machine, leaving the loose peeling in the cup; next, each successive cup with the peeling therein is moved to a scavenging station and there the peeling is removed from the cup so that the latter is ready when subsequently again moved in cyclic fashion to the first half peach receiving station whereat each receives another half peach from the distributing mechanism.

In connection with the inventive features of the present invention, and especially in connection with the means for peeling each half fruit, there is provided new peeling pad or fruit holding mechanism adapted to engage the severed face of each half fruit and to hold the same from tilting movement in the cup or other peeling mechanism during a portion of the peeling operation. This device is also constructed and :arranged to provide means for reinforcing the peripheral edge of the half fruit at which the peeling knife moves outwardly through the flesh of the fruit whereby to eliminate any tendency for the marginal'portion of the esh of the fruit to break off or to be cut or severed in a jagged manner during the peeling operation; and in addition this mechanism is arranged so that a portion of the holding means pressure pad cooperates with the edge of the moving peeling knife whereby to assist in the cutting movement. This construction, then, has permitted the elimination of any necessity of locking the peeling pad in a downward position and thereby enabling the faster movement of this mechanism.

In connection with the peeling operation, a novel arrangement for controlling the movable section of the cup during the peeling operation is provided whereby the peach is more easily pushed laterally in the cup during the peeling operation and in synchronized relation to and with the movement of the peeling knife.

The invention of the present construction preferably takes the form of an unright, substantially square, main frame comprising four corner posts of angle iron construction, 2, 4, 6 and 8, see Figures 1, 3 and 4, suitably braced at top and bottom by cross bars I0 and I2. In addition, other hereinafter described cross bars serve as rigid supports for these upright members. In a general way, extending laterally from this rectangular frame, a supplementary frame projects, which latter frame is adapted to be bolted to the main frame as shown in Figures 1 to 4. This supplementary frame is utilized to support the mechanism which initially receives the frame, thel mechanism which severs the peeling at the stem cavity of the fruit, the mechanism which severs the fruit into halves and which transports the severed halves to the pitting, peeling, fruit discharging, and peel scavenging mechanism.

The main upright frame hereinbefore described is provided on a relatively low level thereof with horizontally disposed shafts I4 and I6, the latter being power-driven through a clutch mechanism shown in Figure 3 at II, by means of a belt I8 adapted in turn to be driven by any suitable motor 20. The clutch mechanism is of any desirable construction capable of connecting and disconnecting the power source to the main operating shaft of the machine. Such a clutch is shown in certain of the co-pending applications of Mark Ewald.

As shown in Figure 3, the shaft I6 carries a gear 2| driving another gear 22 on the horizontal shaft I4. Shaft yI4 carries two main cams 24 and 26, xed on opposite ends thereof. Each of-these cams is double faced, so as to provide cam operating means on each side thereof. Cam face 24a comprises a cam track in which operates a hereinafter described roller mounted on a vertically reciprocable slide for raising and lowering the main vertical slide hereinafter described. The cam face 24b forms a roller race in which a roller on a horizontally reciprocable slide 28 shifts in a horizontal direction transversely to the shaft I4. This slide 28 carries on its outer end a bearing pivot 30 linked to a bearing pivot 32 on an arm 34 xed on a vertical shaft 36. This shaft has fixed bearings in the housing frame 2 of the main upright frame of the machine. Vertical shaft 36 is oscillated by the slide 38 for operating the peeling mechanism, forming the subject matter of this application, and which will hereinafter be described.

The cam face 26 of shaft I4 has a cam face 26a forming a cam race which operates a roller connected to and operating horizontally reciprocable slide 38, all as shown in Figure 3. This slide 38 is'also provldedon its outer end with a bearing 40 having a vertical pin 42, to the lower end of which is pivoted a link 44. This latter link 44 carries at its outer end an arm 46, the outer bearlatable shaft 5|). Shaft 50s is mounted in the corner post 6 of the frame opposite the vertical shaft 35. This shaft 5|) has afxed toits upper end an arm hereinafter referred to, which` in turn pivotally connects at its outer end to a relatively long rod running diagonally across to a universal connection which is in turn connectedv to a mechanism that operates a sector gear reciprocable about a horizontal axis for operating the mechanism which actuates the pitting knives.

Cam race 2Gb operates-av vertically reciprocable slide shown in Figure 6, the upper end of which is provided with a rod 54 having a rack toothed portion 56 operating a pinion 58 on a horizontal shaft` 55. This horizontal shaft |55 has on one end a bevel gear 62 which in turn operates bevel gear 54 on shaft 66 having bearings on the outside of the vertical frame member and on the same level as the main fruit cup turret, hereinafter described. This turret is above that lower level of the machine atwhich the shafts ifi and i6 are located. Shaft 66 operates the mechanism for positioning the auxiliary fruit holding means, specilically the pad, over the fruit cup for holding the half fruit from; tilting during peeling, and also for oscillating the fruit discharging means and ejecting the processed half fruit from the machine. These mechanisms will be hereinafter mentioned.

By reference to Figures Sand 7, a second level of the main rectangular frame of the machine, bounded. by the uprights 2 to 8 inclusive, pro-- vides the location for the Geneva gears for driving the main or half-fruit-holding turret, and also the whole-fruit-holcling turret, including the driving means therebetween whereby the main or half-fruit-holding turret is driven at twice the speed of the whole-fruit-.holding turret. To effect this function, the shaft |4 carries between its ends a bevel gear shown in Figure 3,

meshing with a bevel gear I 2 on a vertical shaft' I4 mounted in the bearing lcarried by a cross frame H8. This cross frame is supported at one end by a suitable vertical brace connected to a cross` bar |23, see Figure' 7, inA turn carried by the vertical uprightlframe lmembers 4V and 8. The opposite end |22 of cross frame H3. is bolted to an end support `by a projection |24 forming a horizontal cross bar |26 carried by the opposite vertical uprights 2 and` 6 of the main frame at about the level of the cross frame |83. This cross bar is preferably an integral party of the substantially triangularly shaped supple` mental frame carrying the whole-fruit-holding turret.

As shown in Figure '7, shaft ||.4 carries a bevel gear ||2 and also carries above it the'gear |28, which latter meshes with a second gear |30 on a bearing |32 on the cross frame H8. Gear ISG meshes with the larger gear |34 horizontally rlxed on vertical shaft |36, having a bearing in cross frame ||8. This. vertical shaft |36 is the turret shaft and it is surrounded by a bearing |38 above which bearing is a longsleeve |39. At the base of this sleeve |39 is rlxeda Geneva gear |45 hav ing slots therein cooperating with the Geneva member |42 on shaft ||4.

As shown in Figure 4, this latter Geneva member |42 has a circular periphery on which is mounted roller |44 for cooperation with the radial slots of the gear |40 aforesaid, for Vintegrally rotating sleeve |39 andv for holding the sleeve stationary between` partial turns. The upright shaft I4 above they Geneva member carries a sprocket gear |46, see Figure '7, drivingy a chain |48 running horizontally across the frame of the machine to a larger sprocket |50'f1xed to a vertical shaft |52. This latter shaft is mounted upon a substantially triangular frame |53, see Figure e',

carried by and integral with the cross bar |26. Frame |53 carries a bearing for the shaft |52 and also has a heavy extension bearing |54, see Figure '7, for the whole-fruit-holding turretshaft |55, see Figure 7. Both of these'shafts are vertical and parallel to each other. The whole-fruitholder turret shaft extends vertically up-v wardly toward the top of the frame.r The shaft |52 has pinned thereto, just above the bearing E55, a part |51 of a Geneva, see Figure 4. which part carries the roller |58.

In addition, the shaft |52 has pinned below the support |54 a gear wheel |59, see Figure 7, which meshes with another gear 56 pinned to the bottom of the shaft |55. Just above the gear |53 a, cam is pinned to the shaft |55 and above the bearing |54 this shaft |55 carries a relatively long sleeve |E| to which is keyed the cooperative part |52 of the Geneva whereby through the intermediary of this Geneva |52 the sleeve itl is intermittently rotated. This sleeve ISE carries the whole-fruit-holding turret.

Whole fruit ,feed station Means is provided whereby an operator may feed whole peaches one at a time to the wholefruit holding mechanism carried :by the wholefruit turret, and such mechanism comprises auto matically shiftable means preferably including a concave receiver, into which a whole peach is placed by the operator, so that the stem axis and suture of the half kfruit is precisely and definitely located with respect to this receiver, whereby, upon the shiftable operationl of this feeding mechanism or receiver, the whole peach is auton matically conveyed to whole peach gripping means preferably in the form of spaced ngers or jaws which are adapted automatically to grip the whole fruit adjacent and on substantially opposite sides of the suture plane `of the whole fruit, and thereafter rmly to holdthe whole fruit inthe precise position in which it was placed in the rst mentioned whole-fruit receiving means. Thereafter this whole-fruit gripping means is turned by the turret mechanism carrying it to a plurality of stations, provided with mechanism for operating upon the peach while thus precisely held.

Direct positioning of the whole peach in the machine and the maintenance of control of a certain alignment with respect to the suture and stemcavity is very important forv eilicient results` obtained from successive processing operations on the peach while it is fed through the machine. It is undesirable .to provide feeding mechanism which gives the operator any particular leeway in properly placing the peach in the feeding jaws of the whole fruit turret, and therefore the hereinbefore described means is provided for elin1i natingall chance and guesswork by the provision of means whereby the operator merely places the stem cavity of the whole peach over a locating means, and in the construction of the wholedruit receiver with concaved walls, whereby the rounded body of the peach automatically aligns its suture, so that subsequent operations may be exactly determined.

vInasmuch as the mechanical details of this whole fruit feed station form no part of the present invention, no furtherv description is deemed necessary. The details of this mechanism are set forth and claimed in a co-pending divisional application now on le. It is sufficient to state that the mechanism of the machine which is not specifically described preferably includes means for peeling the stem cavity of the held whole fruit, thereafter sawing or severing the peach in halves, holding the peach, and transferring it to mechanism which deposits each half peach in a half-fruit cup of the main turret. The details of construction of the various mechanism for accomplishing this are described and claimed on other divisional applications led.

Main fruit-holding turret Means is provided for holding the divided or halved peach or fruit halves or sections in a manner so that such sections supported with their cut faces exposed, may be subjected to one or more operations. This mechanism is constructed so that the halves peaches are disposed and held in the half fruit cups with the pit axes substantially coincident with the radius line of the main fruit-holding turret so that said radius line passes through the substantial central portion of the half fruit holder, whereby the axis of movement not only of the pitting means, but also of the peeling means will lie approximately parallel to the longer axis of the pit, whereby the pitting, peeling and discharge of the half fruit from the half peach holding means is facilitated.

In the present instance it will be noted that the sleeve |39 is disposed to turn inwardly on or about the main vertical shaft |36 and extends parallel above the Geneva disc 149. This disc is affixed to the lower end of the sleeve |39. The upper end of the sleeve |39 carries a boss 318, see Figure 1, having an upper disc 380 to which the bottommost side of the fruit-holding turret 382 is adjustably bolted, the adjustment serving to provide angular adjustment of the fruit-holding turret relative to its turning sleeve, whereby to pro- Vide an adjustment to assure that the half-fruit receiving and spreading mechanism o1' Wings forming the subject matter of other divisional applications and of the parent case herein referred to, are in properly close together position at the time the fruit halves come onto the wing.

As clearly shown in Figure 2, the turret 380 is provided with a spider providing a mounting for the half-fruit receiving means hereinafter specifically shown as cups, and which cups are speciically described in prior Ewald patents and certain pending Ewald applications, The Ewald Patent 2,280,813 of April 28, 1942, shows certain of the details of the cup mechanism. The Ewald Patent 2,255,049, of September 9, 1941, likewise shows and claims certain of the details of the cup mechanism. In the present construction there are six of these cups, each disposed with the center line located radially of the shaft 136.

By reference to Figure 2, there is disclosed at B the pitting station, the pitting jaws being shown fragmentary, and there is disclosed at C the peeling station at which the mechanism forming the subject matter of the present application is located, about the half-fruit-holding turret.

Peach pitting mechanism In the present process and machine, the half peaches are pitted prior to being peeled, A distinct advantage is present in carrying out this sequence in the method of and machine for processing peaches, because in the subsequent peeling operation, hereinafter to be described, the

peeling operation is more efficiently carried out by, first, removing the half pit from the half peach, whereby the peeling pad in conjunction with the action of the fruit cups is enabled to press the half fruit more firmly into contact with the inner curved walls of the fruit cups than would be the case if the rigid half pit were present. It is suicient to state that in this particular form of pitter two curved pitting blades are utilized which sever the section from the half fruit. However, it is within the contemplation of the invention to use other types of pitting mechanisms, provided they are adaptable t0 the present process and the present machine. No claim is made herein to the specific form of pitting mechanism per se, except insofar as a pitting device combines with one or more of the other instrumentalities of the machine for accomplishing a definite sequence of operations upon the half fruit, and this is true either considered as a method or as an apparatus. In short, the arrangement of the pitting device or pitting step in the ma-chine or in the sequence of operations ahead of the peeling step or peeling device, is a definite improvement in the art.

In Figure 2 0f the drawing, the opposed pitting blades are shown associated with one of the cups, and, as heretofore stated, are preferably of the construction shown in the prior Ewald and Skog application Serial No. 185,332, filed January 18, 1938, entitled Fruit pitting apparatus, now issued as Patent No. 2,280,813, of April 28, 1942. These blades are arranged to cut around the undersurface of the half pit during the pitting operation to an overlapping position, at which time, when the pitter head rises, the blades are lifted to carry the severed pit away from the pitted half peach, so that, when these blades are again opened, the pit will be kicked out or ejected away from the pitted half peach. The cup in the meantime will have moved `to the next station, which is the peeling station, leaving therein the pitted half peach with the pit removed therefroml The peeling mechanism A Referring to Figures 3, 5, 14 and 15, wherein means are shown for operating the pitting and peeling mechanisms, and also means for driving the two vertical shafts 36 and 50, as hereinbefore described, the shaft 36 is provided on its upper end with a loosely mounted collar 100. This collar has formed thereon a pair of extending arms '|02 and 104. By means of a pin and slot connection 106, the arm 102 is affixed to the exible connection 108, which, in turn, is connected to a bar 1li), which has at its opposite end a smaller flexible connection 'H2 with a slotted arm H4 (see Figure 14). This arm H4 is pivotally supported as at 'H6 on a Vertical reciprocating frame 'H8 that supports the pitting and peeling mechanism. Frame 'H8 is reciprocated vertically by means of the cam 24, hereinbefore described. A vertical slide is provided with a roller '|22 which engages a cam track 24a formed on the outer surface of disc 24. The rotation of the shaft I4 rotates the disc 24, which, in turn, has a cam track 24a thereon, which will raise and lower the vertical guide '|20 by means of the roller 122, thereby causing the frame 'H8 to raise and lower in synchronous movement with the -rotating half-fruit turret. As seen in Figure 5, the vertical slide 120 is connected to the frame 1|8 by means of an adjustable set screw 12B. The frame 118 has vertical guideways 128 which are bolted to the main frame columns 2 and 4 of the machine. Upon the upper portion of lthe framey 118, there is provided a platform or ledge 139 to accommodate the pitting mechanism 132 and the peeling mechanism T34, the pitting mechanism being attached to the frameli by means of bolts 136 and the peeling mechanism being attached to the frame by means of bolts 138.

As shown in Figure i4, the driving means for the pitting device areV .actuated by the hereinbefore described slotted arm 1M, which, in turn, is keyed to a short shaft 149. Shaft 140 has keyed on its opposite end a segment gear 142, which actuates a vertical rack bar T44-, which operates the pitting mechanism.

Means for actuating the arms 1-04 and 1592 consist-s of a link connection 144 -connected to the outer end of the arm 194', and its Opposite end is f connected to a crank arm 146 by means of the pin connection 148. The crank larm 146 is keyed to the vertical shaft 50, which is actuatedr by the connecting links 4E and 46, et cetera, hereinbefore described. Upon actuation of the Vertical shaft 50, the -crank 14B imparts motion to the bar 144 to oscillate the arms 194' and 192 to actuate the drive for the pitting mechanism. Situated on the shaft 36 and directly below the collar 199 is a similar collar 159 having a Crank T42, which has a flexible connection with an adjustable bar i541, and which has onv its opposite end a pivoted connection 156 with a collar 153.l This Icollar is part of an arm 'Hill shown in Figure 10. The .arm 'itil bends downwardly and is formed integral with a collar 162, which is, in turn, keyed to the shaft 165i by a pin 166. The collar 152 has also formed thereon a gear sector 159, which rotates a pinion 110, keyed on a short vshaft 112. The shaft 164 which is pinned to the collar H52 has pinned on itsopposite end another' collar 114, which has formed thereon a gear` sector 11B similar to the gear sector 168. The gear sector 11B rotates the pinion 113 in the same direction and at the same speed as the pinion 11|) on the opposite side of the peeling mechanism. Thev shaft itil is mounted on bearings 180 which are formed on a peeling head 182. This peeling head, likewise, at its bottom carries opposed, spaced-apart bearings 184 and 'i3-6 for the shafts 112 and 11. Each of these shafts at its inner ends is provided with a block 188 and 190, to which the opposite ends of the peeling knife 192 are aflixed by means of triangular blocks 194 and 196. The peeling knife 192 is constructed in accordance with prior patents of Mark Ewald, such as Patents Nos. 2,015,666 and 1,987,611.

The peeling head 182 is provided with lan upstanding bracket 198 bolted thereto as at 890, which bracket at its upper ends is provided with a. laterally extending arm 892 and a guideway Bilt (see Figure 11) adapted slidingly to receive an arm 805 to prevent pad 818 from Vturning and so that it will not contact stationary pad 846 hereinafter referred to. In addition, thehead is provided with a centrally apertured boss 898 adapted to receive a vertical sleeve 819 having a central enlarged opening 8I2, which joins With a smaller center bore 8M of the sleeve 810. The bottommost portion of this sleeve is providedwith a rigidly attached foot -or pad 816, the details of which are shown in perspective in Figure i3.

This pad 81E is provided with a -portion 8| 8 of I larger diameter and' a portion S29 of smaller diameter, there being two Shoulders 822 and 82d therebetween. The pad or fruit holder SIS is large enough in area so that it Icontacts the cut face of the half fruit all around'the pit cavity.

-lil

` l0 The top of the sleeve -810 extends outwardly through an opening in the arm B019, and a spring 92-'6 is: confined between the arm 9915 `and a cylindrical block 829 at its top abuts a screw 835i thereat through the lateral arm 392 of the bracket 198 on the vertically shiftable peeling head. This spring 826 creates a downward urge which causes the half peach to be held irmlyA in the-bottom of the cup but not so r-mly that the peeling knife cannot shift or change the positionof the half peach 4as the knife cuts therethrough, as herein-after explained. A lock nut 832 holds the nut in adjusted position to regulate tension of the spring 92E, which spring, in turn, is adapted to maintain the peeling pad 8l8 resiliently in downwardly projecting position relative to the peeling head 182. In addition, there is provided a lknock-out pad comprising a preferably circular vsmaller pad 83d mounted on the lower end of a rod 836 having a spring abutment member 838 pinned thereto. The upper end' of this rod passes through a bore 8M of the upper end of the sleeve` lll, and is provided with a cross pin acting as a stop.

In addition, a spring 842 isl seated within the large vbore 812 (see Figure 9) of the sleeve 8l9 surrounding this stem, and is confined therein between the inner wall of the upper surface lof the bore and the stop collar 938, by which means the spring 842', which is weaker than the spring 825, normally maintains thev knock-out pad in a position lower Athan the surface of the pad member git, whereby, as the 'peeling head descends, the knock-outpad will first Contact the pit Zone of the peach, and, if the pit be present, the pad will be pushed upwardly by such contact until i-t seats in a countersunk recess 844i in the bottom face of the circular pad 8I-B. If the pit has been properly removed the knock-out pad will be in the position shown in Figure 10y of the drawings. Thereafter, if the half peach in the cup be one of the relatively larger sizes,y the main resilient pad 'Slt vand inextreme instances4 also the knock-out pad, will be forced upwardly against the tension of the stronger spring 826, whereby adj'ustably to accommodate this larger sized half fruit. At the same time the pad 816 pressing downwardly on the central portion of the half fruit and being held from turning by an arm 896 in the vertical lguide-way -804 will maintain the half fruit from turning. The knockout pad prevents the main pad from sticking to the face of the half peach. The pad BIAS contacts the cut face of the half fruit before the peeling head is at its lowest point and before the peeling knife starts to cut. Therefore the pad B16 contacts thel vout face of the half fruit before the knife does. This pad 818 does not hold the cut face of the half fruit from tilting in the cup. Since the half peach is semi-spherical, the cut face can tilt and yet contact can be` made, and still the spring 82% of the pad 816 will be sufficiently strong to maintain contact between the undersurface of the half fruit which is being peeled and the inner Walls of the cup.

Cooperating with this resiliently shiftable pad tilt is a pad M6, which is shown in Figure 13, and is likewise semicircular in shape. It has a centrally disposed semicircular cut-out M8 which corresponds to and matches the semi-circular portion 829 of the pad SIIG so as to nest therewith. In addition, this pad has two upstanding posts E59 and 852, which are joined by circular extension 854 having an upstanding lugr suitabllT -apertured as at 955, whereby this pad is bolted as at 866 to a depending bracket portion 862 of the peeling head 182. A slotted portion of the bracket 862 permits adjustment of this stationary pad portion relative to the peeling head 182. It will thus be seen that this pad portion 846 is rigidly carried by and reciprocates with the main peeling head 182, which carries the oscillatable peeling knife 182, so that, when the peeling head descends to bring the knife into proper position relative to the cut face of the half fruit, as shown in Figures 9 and 10 and 11, this pad 846 will be brought downwardly into contact with that portion of the cut face of the half fruit, from which the knife blade 192 emerges during the peeling stroke or cut, whereby two functions are accomplished-rst, the half fruit will be held from upward tilting movement at this point, due to the inward and downward arcuate thrust of the cutting knife as it enters the half fruit; and, secondly, the outer` circular edge of the pad 846 is a1'- ranged so that it contacts the cut face of the half fruit approximately at the peel zone of the half fruit, whereby this -circular edge of the pad 846 cooperates with the cutting edge of the peeling knife to form, with the peeling knife, a cooperative shearing edge. Also -this stationary edge of the pad 846 provides means for preventing the edge of the half fruit at the cut face from breaking 01T as the peeling knife emerges from the cut face of the half fruit upon the completion of the peeling cut in this direction.

By reference to Figure 11 it will be seen that the rigidly mounted peeling pad 846 is mounted substantially on the axis of turning of the peeling knife and that the auxiliary pad 8|8 which is centrally located and smaller than the rigid pad 846, when normally projected in advance of the rigid pad 846, will not interfere with the arcuate movement of the peeling knife as the head descends as the peeling knife begins its downward movement.

By thus providing this stationary peeling pad 846 in combination with a resiliently shiftable peeling pad 816, and by arranging the stationary pad 846 at the knife emerging face of the cut fruit while providing the resiliently mounted peeling pad 8I6 at the entrance face of the half fruit with respect to the peeling knife, the necessity of positively locking the peeling pad in downward position on the cut face -of the half fruit for a whole or even a part `of the peeling cut, is eliminated; while at the same time during the initial portion of the downward movement of the peeling cut through the half fruit, the peeling pad BIB which is provided with adjustable resillent action in upward and downward direction, holds the half fruit firmly against the bottom wall of the peeling cup while at the same time permitting the half fruit to 'be laterally shifted by the peeling knife as hereinafter disclosed. In this pad arrangement, the pad 8I6 is maintained a standard size for all sizes of fruit, whereas the pad 846 is replaceable with pads of smaller or larger sizes, so that the arcuate edge 846 of this pad will always lie relatively close to the path of movement of the peeling knife, depending upon the size of the half fruit being operated upon, whereby this edge of the stationary pad acts as a sort of shearing knife to cooperate with the edge of the peeling blade.

The half fruit receiving cups are constructed in the same manner as in the prior patent of Raymond L. Ewald and Henry A. Skog, No. 2,280,813, of April 28, 1942. However, the means for moving the enlarged half section into GQ6611- 12 tric relation to the stationaryhalf section has been changed somewhat, and is shown in Figure 8.

In this connection it will be noted that the tur ret 586 has mounted thereon six half peach receiving cups, which are of the general conformation shown in Figures 9 and 10. One of the quarter sections 886 of each of these cups is rigidly bolted by means of a bolt 38| to the spider of the turret 382. rIhe other cup section 818 is hingedly mounted to the stationary section as by means of the pin 819, whereby these two complemental quarter cup sections will make a substantial half sectional cup. These relatively swingable cup sections have :a so-called closed position, wherein the two sections are -eccentric one to the other, and this eccentric position is accomplished by moving the swingable fruit holder toward the stationary fruit holder, whereby to press the curved wall 882 of the half fruit against the inner wall of the adjacent stationary section 886, so that on the down stroke of the cutting blade 192, the rm contact of the periphery of the half fruit against the wall of the cup section 886 is assured, and whereby correct peeling is likewise assured; and subsequently, in timed relation with the arcuate movement of the peeling knife 192 and about the time that is necessary to reach somewhere between one third of its way downward and the bottommost part of its stroke, the actuating mechanism for the shiftable half cup is released, so that the shiftable half cup 818 is free to swing to an open position, preferably by the action of gravity. In this position the cup sections 886 and 818 will be truly concentric. At this time, movement of the peeling knife 192 will push over the half fruit against the inner adjacent wall of the swingable cup section 818 now in its truly concentric position and simultaneously, as the knife continues to move, it will start its upward, arcuate cut slightly under the peel, whereby 4continuously to form the peeling cut. This whole portion of the cut will be the emerging peeling cut. The mechanism for carrying out this operation, as shown more clearly in Figures 8 and 9, consists -of a cam 884 which is keyed to the shaft I4 and a cam roller 886 which is fixed to a vertical slide bar 888, and engages the cam 886, as shown. The slide bar 888 is guided in a guideway 896, which is bolted to the frame 4 as at 892 and 893, and this bar 896 has pivoted on its upper end as at 894 a cam finger 896 which is held in the position shown in Figure 8 by a spring 898 and :a stop screw 966 which, as shown in Figure 2, engages the side of the vertically reciprocable bar 888 and is adjustable to vary the position of the cam nger 896 relative to the bar and thus adjusta'bly determine the time of the closing of 'the cup segment 818. Upon raising the bar 888, the cam nger 896 contacts a roller 962 on a depending arm 964 pivoted on the shaft 819 and having its upper portion formed integral with the righthand movable section of the fruit cup 818.

Due to the tension of the spring 898, the cam finger 896 exerts a pressure on the roller 962 which, in turn, moves the righthand portion 818 of the fruit cup toward the lefthand portion 880, thereby clamping or exerting a yielding pressure on the side of the fruit to hold it substantially rigid in the fruit cup while the peeling is taking place. In addition, an adjustable stop screw 966 contacts an extension 968 formed on the support arm 964, and prevents the cup section 816 from being swung out of concentric alignment with the lefthand cup section 880. This type of construction for shifting the swingable cup section 818 toward the stationary cup section 880 is more positive, also independent of the movement of the peeling knife and permits the relatively closing movement of the cup section 818 before the peeling pad comes in contact with the face of the fruit, which is not possible in the prior construction becausev the cup` thereof does not start to move until the peeling knife starts to turn. A more positive action is required in the peach machine due to the nature of the peel surface of the half peach, as distinguished from the more smooth surface of a pear. Therefore a stronger #closing action of the cup 818 is required, and this is accomplished by thge mechanism shown in Figure 8.

In connection with the drawings, Figure 10 shows a half peach of a size completely to fill the cup and in this Figure l it is assumed that the peach is substantially one half of a perfect sphere, because the cut face is in Contact evenly with the pad 846. The pad 8I8 in this figure has been pushed up so that it lies even with the pad 845. The knockout pad is shown as resting in the pit cavity. If the peeling knife in this Figure 10 were in the same position as it occupies in Figure 11, we would then have the pads and the peeling knife in the position relative to the cut face of the half peach as the knife would occupy just before it starts its cutting stroke.

In explanation of the movements of the knife, the peeling head, the various pads, and the relatively shiftable cup sections, it will thus be seen' that as the peeling head lowers, the knockout pad 834 contacts the pit cavity in the cut face of the half fruit. It is to be borne in mind that the relatively weaker spring which operates this knockout pad is selected so that it will exert sufcient pressure between the pad and the pit cavity so that when the peeling head rises, this pressure exerted by the knockout pad will break the suction between the at face of the half fruit and the larger pads B18 and 346. This is the only function of the knockout pad and its spring is selected so that it does not interfere with the actions of the two other pads. As the peeling head continues to lower, the pad 818 next comes in contact with the out face of the half fruit. As the half peace is the same size as the cup, the pads 8|8 and 8136 will assume the position as shown in Figure 10. If, however, the half peach is smaller than the cup, the pad 818 will be some where between the position shown in Figure l1 and that shown in Figure l0.

At this sequence in operations the side pushers or mechanisms shown in vFigure 8 now act to close the sections of the cup, as hereinbefore explained, to the size of the half fruit contained therein. In other words, the cup sections are brought together eccentrically so as to force the wall of the half peach firmly against the stationary inner wall of the cup section 88 so that as the knife swings downwardly in making the entrance cut it will peel the half fruit concentrically with the inner wall of this stationary cup section 88. As before stated, the peeling knife now starts down into the fruit and when it gets about one third of the way down into the cup or somewhere between one third of' the way down and the bottommost portion of its stroke, the side pusher mechanism illustrated in Figure 8 releases the hinged half cup section 318r and as the peeling knife continues its cutting stroke downwardly and across the bottom portion of the half cup, the

knife carries or pushes the half peach laterally or sideways firmly toward the inner wall of the shiftable cup section 818 which is now shifted either by the lateral pushing or by gravity to a concentric position with respect to the stationary section 880 of the cup. At the same time as the half peach is moved thus laterally, thevknife also tends to tilt the half peach in the cup until the face of the half peach where the'peeling knife emerges is in contact with the undersurface of thel pad 845. This operation, of course, only occurs when the peach is smaller than the cup. In instances where the peach is the same size or larger than the cup, the pad 846 has already engaged the cut surface of the half fruit and will thereby prevent any such upward tilting With regard to the configuration and size of the pads 818 and 84S, the side of the pad 818 is made smaller on that side adjacent the pad 846 so that when a pad 846i isl placed on the machine for the smallest peach in the range that has to be run, that part of the flange between the numbers 848 and 846, see Figure 13, will be of sucient width so that there will be a minimum of fruit bruising or cutting into the cut face of the half fruit while at the same time providing suicient strength. The opposite side of the pad 818 is made as large as permissible. That is, it must be just small enough so that when there is no peach in the cup and/or on the downward descent of the peelinghead, see Figure 1l, the peeling knife in turning will not strike that side of the pad 818 which overlies the knife entering zone of the cut face of the half fruit. The shoulders 822 and 824, see Figure l2, on the pad 818 are preferably the same. For standardization of parts the inner curve 848, as shown in Figure 13, of the pad 846 is the same size on all sizes of the pad 8&6, and the opposite side of the pad 818 is subject to variation, such as increased or decreased depending upon the size of the fruit being peeled. Hence the smaller radius of the pad GIB, shown at 828 in Figure 13, nts the inner curve 848 in Figure 13 of pad M5, and the opposite side of the pad 318 clears the knife in the position shown in Figure l1 on the downward swing of the knife.

In any situation where there is a smaller half fruit in the cup, this half fruit can tilt in the cup because the peeling knife creates that tendency as it moves downwardly through the cut face of the half fruit in making the first portion of the peeling cut, and the spring tension from the spring SZ is not stiff enc-ugh to prohibit this action. In the peeling of peaches there is considerable friction between the lcup and the outer fuzzy surface of the peach, and therefore the peach does not tilt from the pressure of the pad 848 due to the fact that this pad is larger on the entering side. Even if this did occur, however, no harm would be` done as long as the peach was held down in the cup by the pad 8m because when the pad 845 contacts the peach it would straighten it before the peeling knife went into action. In the smaller size of the peaches the pads B34 and 818 contact the fruit first and the pad 845 may not be contacted until the peeling knife has tilted the peach to cause the contact. In any event the half peach does not start any tilting movement in and relatively to the cup sections until the side pushers release the hinged half of the cup, which is at a point when the knife is about one third to one half Way down in the cup. When the hinged half of the cup is thus released the half peach may follow the release by both shifting sideways and tilting in the cup, or suflicient arcuate turning of the knife may take place so that there is a more upward pull on the peach as the knife approaches its point of emergence from the fruit.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the specific details of construction disclosed herein, but is capable of other modifications and changes Without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a device of the class described, in combination with a half fruit holder adapted to receive and hold a half fruit with its cut face exposed, a peeling head, means for shifting the peeling head into position adjacent the cut face of the half fruit, a peeling knife, means for arcuately moving the knife through the flesh of the half fruit to peel the same, means carried by the peeling head for contacting the cut face of the half fruit during peeling comprising complemental parts, one of said parts being rigidly carried by the peeling head and overlying that portion of the cut face of the half fruit from which the peeling knife emerges, and another part overlying a portion of the cut fa'ce of the half fruit into which the peeling knife enters, said last mentioned part being resiliently mounted with respect to the peeling head.

2. In a device of the class described, in combination with a cup-shaped holder adapted to receive a half fruit to hold the same with the cut face exposed, a peeling head shiftable into position adjacent the cut face of the half fruit, a peeling knife carried by the head and arcuately shiftable through the iiesh of the half fruit to peel the P same, peeling pad means mounted on said head and comprising a portion rigidly carried thereby and overlying that portion of the cut face of the half fruit from which the peeling knife emerges,

and comprising a second portion overlying another portion of the half fruit, said last mentioned portion being resiliently mounted with respect to the peeling head, and a knock-out pad mounted in said last mentioned pad portion and normally extending resiliently from the face thereof, said knock-out pad being shiftable to a position such that the faces of the knock-out pad and the second mentioned pad are substantially ush when contacting the cut face of the half fruit.

3. In a device of the class described, in combination with a holder adapted to hold a half fruit with its cut face uppermost, a peeling head, means for relatively positioning the head and the cut face of the half fruit into adjacency, a peeling knife mounted on said head, means for moving the peeling knife arcuately through the flesh of the half fruit to peel the same, whereby to cause the knife to enter and emerge from the cut face of the half fruit, auxiliary fruit holding means carried by said head and comprising a portion overlying the cut face of the half fruit Within the walls of the fruit holder, said portion being positioned laterally of and sufiiciently close to the marginal edge of the half fruit and slightly laterally of the location at which said peeling knife emerges therefrom, said portion having a wall constructed and arranged to cooperate with the cutting edge of the knife to form a shearing edge with said knife to facilitate the peeling of the half fruit, and whereby to prevent the breaking off of the flesh of the half fruit at the out face thereof upon the emerging of the knife from the cut face.

4. In a device of the class described, in combination with a cup-shaped holder adapted to hold a half fruit with its cut face uppermost, a peeling head, means for relatively positioning the head and the cut face of the half fruit into adjacency, a peeling knife mounted thereon, means for moving the peeling knife arcuately through the iiesh of the half fruit to peel the same, Whereby to l'cause the knife to enter and emerge from the cut face of the half fruit, auxiliary fruit holding means comprising a portion overlying the marginal edge of the half fruit adjacent the location at which said peeling knife emerges therefrom, and cooperating with the path of movement of the knife to form a shearing edge with said knife to facilitate the peeling of the half fruit, and whereby to prevent the breaking off of the flesh of the half fruit at the cut face thereof upon the emerging of the knife from the cut face,

5. In a device of the class described, in combination with a cup-shaped receiver to hold a half fruit with its cut face exposed, a peeling head, means for relatively shifting the peeling head and receiver to cause the peeling head to be placed adjacent the cut face of the half fruit and held in said receiver, a peeling knife carried by the head, means for arcuately shifting said knife through the iiesh of the half fruit to peel the same, and means contacting the cut face of the half fruit and forming a shearing blade adapted shearingly to cooperate with the peeling blade as it emerges from the body of the half fruit while held in the cup-shaped receiver.

6. In a device of the class described, in combination with fruit holding means adapted to hold a half fruit with its cut face exposed, a peeling head, a peeling knife carried thereby, means for relatively shifting the fruit holder and peeling head to bring them into adjacency, means for moving the knife arcuately through the flesh of the half fruit to peel the half fruit, and auxiliary fruit holding means adapted to contact the cut face of the half fruit at the location where the peeling means emerges from the iiesh of the half fruit, and forming in association with said emerging peeling means a shearing blade to assist the peeling action.

'7. In a device of the class described, in combination with fruit holding means adapted to hold a half fruit With its cut face exposed, a peeling head, a peeling knife carried thereby, means for relatively shifting the fruit holder and peeling head to bring them into adjacency, means for moving the knife arcuately through the flesh of the half fruit to peel the half fruit, and an auxiliary shearing blade adapted to be positioned adjacent the path of movement of the peeling means as it emerges from the fiesh of the half fruit in making the peeling cut and forming in association with the peeling means a shearing blade to assist in the peeling action.

8. In a device of the class described, in combination with fruit holding means adapted to hold a half fruit with its cut face exposed, a peeling head, a peeling knife carried thereby, means for relatively shifting the fruit holder and peeling head to bring them into adjacency, means for moving the knife arcuately through the flesh of the half fruit to peel the half fruit, said peeling means comprising an arcuate peeling blade and an arcuately shaped member adapted to be positioned adjacent the path of movement of the arcuately shaped blade at the cut face of the half fruit to form a shearing edge cooperating with the movable shearing blade to improve l7` the peeling action as the peeling blade emerges from the cut ilesh of the half fruit at the cut face thereof. e e

9. In combination, means providing a substantially concave fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the outer curved wall of the half fruit, leaving the cut face of the half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder, whereby the lpeeling head and cut face of the half fruit are positioned relatively adjacent one another, a peeling knife mounted about an axis on the peeling head for arcuate movement, a f rst auxiliary fruit holding means rigidly mounted on the peeling head with its undersurface lying in the plane of the axis of the peeling knife and having an arcuate fruit contactingl surface solely overlying and contacting that half ofthe cut face of the half fruit from which thev peeling knife emerges in making the peeling cut, the'outer periphery of said fruit contacting surface contacting and supporting that part of the cut face of the half fruit which is adjacent to and slightly spaced from the inner wall portion of the unsevered Apeeling of the half fruit whereby as the peeling knife emerges from the half fruit in making the peeling cut the peripheral edge of said arcuate fruit supporting portion of said contacting surface will function to create a shearing action whereby the knife will sever the peeling at the cut face of the half fruit Without tearing the flesh.

10. In combination, means providing a substantially concave fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the outer curved peeling wall of the half fruit, leaving the cut face of the half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder, whereby the peeling head and cut face of the half fruit are positioned relatively adjacent one another, a peeling knife mounted for arcuate movement about an axis on the peeling head for arcuate movement, a first auxiliary fruit holding means rigidly mounted on the peeling head so as to have its undersurface lying in the plane of the axis of the peeling knife 4and having an arcuate fruit contacting surface solely overlying and contacting that half of the cut face of the half fruit from which the peeling knife emerges in making the peeling cut, the outer periphery of said fruit contacting surface contacting and supporting that part of the cut face of the half fruit which is adjacent to and slightly spaced from the inner Wall portion of thel unsevered peeling of the half fruit whereby as the peeling knife emerges from' the half fruit in making the peeling cut the peripheral edge of said arcuate fruit supporting portion of said contacting surface will function -to create ifa shearing action whereby the knife will sever the peeling at the cut face of the half fruit without tearing theL flesh, and a second auxiliary fruit holding means yieldably mounted upon said peeling head and adapted yieldingly to contact the cut face of the half fruit at and adjacent the central portion or pit portion thereof.

11. In combination, means 'providing a substantially concave fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the outer curved peeling wall of the half fruit, leaving the cut face of the half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder, whereby the peeling head and cut face of theA halffruit are positioned relativelyl adjacent one another, a peeling knife mounted 18 for arcuate movement about an axis on the peeling head for arcuate movement, a rst auxiliary fruitholding means rigidly mounted on the peeling headwith its undersurface lying in the plane of the axis of the peeling knife and having an arcuate fruit contacting surface solely overlying and contacting that half of the cut face of thevhalf fruit from ,which the peeling knife emerges in making the peeling cut, the outer periphery ofl said fruit contacting surface contacting and supporting` that part of the cut'face of the half fruit which is adjacent to and slightly spacedfrom the inner wall portion of the unsevered peelingof the half fruit whereby as the peeling knife emerges from the half fruit in making the peeling cut the peripheral edge of said arcuate fruit supporting portion of said contacting surface will function to create a shearing, action whereby the knife will sever the peeling at the cut face of the half fruit without tearing the flesh, and a second auxiliary fruit holding means yieldably mounted upon said peel-` ing headand "adapted yieldingly to contact the cut face of the half fruit at and adjacent the central portion or pitportion thereof, said second mentioned auxiliary fruit holding member being of relatively smaller area than said first mentioned auxiliary fruit holding means.

12. In combination, means providing a substantially concave fruit holder adapted to hold a half. fruit by the outer curved peeling wall of the half fruit, leaving the cut face of the half fruit'exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder, whereby the peeling head and cut'face of the half fruit are positioned relatively adjacent one another, a peeling knife mounted for arcuate movement about an axis on the peeling headfor arcuate movement, a first auxiliary i fruit'h'olding means rigidly mounted on the peeling head and having an arcuate fruit contacting surface solely-.overlying and contacting that half of thelcut face of the half fruit from which the peeling knife emerges in making the peeling cut,

the .outer periphery of said fruit contacting sur-v face contacting and supporting that part of the cut faceof the half fruit which is adjacent to and slightly spaced from the inner wall portion of the unseveredl peeling of the half fruit whereby as the peeling knife emerges from the half fruit in making,` the peeling cutthe peripheral edge of said arcuate fruit supporting portion of said contacting surfacewillfunction to create a shearing action whereby the knifewill sever the peeling at 'theicut'face ofthe half fruit without tearing the flesh, and a Vsecond auxiliary fruit holding means yieldably mounted upon said peeling head and adapted .yieldingly vto contact the cut face of the half fruit at and adjacent the central portion lor pit portion thereof, said rst mentioned auxiliary fruit holding pad having a central recessfformed therein and said second mentioned auxiliary fruit'holding pad being spaced from but fitting within said recess and contacting the centralportion of the cut face of the half fruit;

v13. In combination, means providing a substantiallyconcave fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the outer `curved peeling wall of the half fruit, leaving the cut face of the half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and thefrui't holder,`whereby the peeling head and cut face of the half fruit are positioned relatively adjacentone another, a peelingnknife mounted for arcuate movement about an axis on the peeling head for arcuate movement, a nrst auxiliary fruit holding means rigidly mounted on the peeling head and having 'an arcuate fruit contacting surface overlying and contacting a portion of that half of the cut face of the half fruit from which the peeling knife emerges in making the peeling cut, the outer periphery of said fruit contacting surface contacting and supporting that part of the cut face of the half fruit which is adjacent to and slightly spaced from the inner wall portion of the unse'vered peeling of the half fruit whereby as the peeling knife emerges from the half fruit in making the peeling cut the peripheral edge of said arcuate fruit supporting portion of said contacting surface will function to create 'a shearing action whereby the knife will sever the peeling `at the cut face lof the half fruit without tearing the flesh, and a second auxiliary fruit holding means yieldably mounted upon said peeling head and adapted yieldingly to contact the 'cut face of the half fruit at 'and adjacent the central portion or pit portion thereof, said second mentioned auxiliary fruit holding member having a central recess, and a third auxiliary fruit vcontacting member projecting in advance of the fruit contacting surface of said second mentioned auxiliary pad, and yielding means for projecting said third mentioned fruit holding member normally in advance of said second mentioned fruit holding member while permitting said third mentioned fruit holding member to yieldingly move back so that its surface is flush with the surface of said second mentioned fruit holding pad,

14. In combination, means providing a substantially concave fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the 'outer curved wall of the half fruit leaving the cut face of the half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder whereby the peeling head and the out face of the half fruit are positioned relatively adjacent one another, a peeling knife mounted on the peeling head for varcuate movement about an axis, 'a first auxiliary fruit holding means rigidly mounted on the peeling head 'and having an arcuate fruit contacting surface overlying and contacting a portion lof that half of the cut face of the half fruit from which the peeling `knife emerges in making. the peeling cut, the outer periphery of said fruit contacting surface contacting and `supporting that part of the cut face of the half fruit which is adjacent to and 'slightly spac'ed from the inner wall portion of the unsevered peeling of the half fruit whereby as the peeling knife emerges from the half fruit in making the peeling cut the peripheral edge vof 'said arcuate fruit supporting portion of said contacting surface will create a shearing action with the knife 'whereby the knife will sever the peeling at the cut face of the half fruit without tearing the flesh, a second auxiliary fruit holding means yieldingly mounted upon the peeling head and adapted yieldingly to contact the cut face 'of the half fruit at and adjacent the central portion or pit portion thereof, means for normally yieldingly projecting said auxiliary fruit holding means in advance of said first mentioned fruit holding means, and a third auxiliary fruit holding means yieldingly mounted with respect to vsaid head and said rst and second mentioned fruit `holding means, and means for normally projecting 'said third mentioned fruit holding means in advance of said second mentioned fruit holding means, said third mentioned fruit holding means `being 20 adapted first to contact the cut face of the half fruit and thereafter to yield to a position substan tially flush with the fruit contacting surface of the second mentioned fruit holding means,

15. In combination, means providing 'a fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the outer curved peeling wall of the half fruit leavingthe cut face of the half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder whereby the cut face of the half fruit and the holder are positioned relatively adjacent each other, a peeling knife mounted on the peeling head for arcuate movement, three auxiliary fruit holding means mounted onsaid peeling head, each adapted to contact a different area of the cut face of the half fruit during the peeling action, two of said fruit holding and contacting means being yieldingly projectible in advance of the other, and one of said last two mentioned yielding fruit holding means being aiso norm-ally projectible ln advance of the other of said last two mentioned fruit holding means.

16. In combination, means providing a fruit holder adapted to hold a half fruit by the outer curved peeling wall of the half fruit leaving the cut face of the Yhalf fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for producing relative movement between the peeling head and the fruit holder whereby,

the cut face `of the half fruit and the holder are positioned relatively adjacent each other, a peeling knife mounted on the ypeeling head for arcuate movement, three auxiliary fruit holding means mounted on the peeling head each adapted to contact a distinct and separate area ofthe cut face of the half fruit dur-ing the peeling action, one 4of said auxiliary fruit holding means being rigidly mounted on the head and the two lremaining fruit holding vmeans being yieldingly mounted on the head and being projectible normally in advance of the rigidly mounted fruit holding means, and one of the two yielding .fruit holding .means being normallyprojectible in advance of the other, the frui-t contacting surface of the two auxiliary yielding fruit holding means being yiel-dable to move rearwardly into the plane of the fru-i-t contacting surface of the rigidly mounted fruit holding means,

17. In fadevice of the class described, in combination with fruit holding means adapted 5to hold a hal'f fruit with the cut face of the .half fruit exposed, a peeling head, means for relatively vertically shifting said peeling head and the fruit holding means whereby the peeling head and the cut face of the half fruitare positioned adjacently, apeeling knife on said head .movable to out `through the flesh of the .hal-f .fruit 'to Apeel the same, a first auxiliary -f-ruit holder rigidly carried by the peeling head and immovable relatively to the head, and a second auxillaryfruit holder resiliently carried Aby the peeling head and shiftable with respect thereto, said rigidly mounted auxiliary fruit-holder contacting the 'cut face of the half fruit on that side of the cut face of the half fruit at which the peeling knife emerges in making the peelingcut, and said resiliently mounted auxiliary .fruit .holding means contacting that half of the cutfface of `thefhalf fruit adjacentv the zone into which the knife enters `the half fruit at the cut -'face -in mak-'lng thepeeling cut.

y 18. In a device ofthe class described, in combination witha fruit -holder adapted to :hold a hal-f fruit with' its cut faceexposed, a peeling head, a peel-ing knife carried thereby, means fon 21 relatively shifting said head and fruit holder into adjacency While the fruit is so held and means for swinging said peeling knife arcuately through the esh of the half fruit while so held to peel the same, and additional fruit contacting mechanism carried by the peeling head adapted to contact the cut face of the fruit and forming a shearing blade adapted shearingly to cooperate with the peeling blade as it emerges from the half 19. In a device of the class described, in combination with fruit holding means adapted to hold a half fruit with its cut face outermost, a peeling head, means to cause relative motion between the fruit holding means and the head to cause them to be positioned relatively adjacently, a peeling knife carried by said head, means for arcuately moving the knife through the iiesh of the half fruit to peel the same, auxiliary fruit holding means having a flat face, a portion of said face being disposed to overlie a portion of the cut face of the half fruit on one side of the central portion thereof and being mounted re siliently to contact the cut face of the half fruit during the peeling action, and having another nat-faced portion disposed to overlie a portion of the cut face of the half fruit on the opposite side of the central portion thereof and being mounted rigidly to contact the cut face of the half fruit during the peeling action, said first mentioned flat face being mounted normally resiliently on said head to contact the cut face of the half fruit in advance of said second mentioned nat-faced portion.

20. In a device of the class described, in com- 22 bination with a support, a carrier movable thereon and carrying a plurality of fruit holding means, each comprising a stationary portion andv a portion pivotally mounted with respect thereto, a peeling head, power operated peeling means on said head, said pivotally mounted fruit holding portion having an arm, power operated actuating means mounted on said support, vertically shiftable means disposed below said fruit holding means when said fruit holding means is ina predetermined peeling position with respect to said peeling head and said peeling means, said power means actuating said vertically shiftable means vertically to shift said arm to move one of said portions of said fruit holding means to- Ward the other prior to at least a portion of the peeling movement of the peeling means.

RAYMOND L. EWALD.

HENRY A. SKOG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,766,496 Fonken June 24, 1930 1,769,654 Spencer July 1, 1930 1,948,459 Ewald Feb. 20, 1934 2,242,243 Ewald et al May 20, 1941 2,242,244 Ewald May 20, 1941 2,255,049 Ewald Sept. 9, 1941 

